adventures – textiles – pictures

how to sew… a bolster-pillow cover *quick/easy*

Heyhey,

here is my second project in my new series quick and easy project suitable for beginners. This time I sewed a cover for a bolster. This project only requires straight lines to be sewn, so do not worry, it really is easy to do.

What you need:

bolster/neck roll

fabric size depending on your bolster, but one yard will be enough, with a small pillow maybe even a fat quarter

1yard/90cm cord or ribbon

sewing thread

sewing machine

my bolster measuring around it, then add 2cm/1inch for movement and twice the seam allowance, for me that was 52 cm in total, that is measurement A

and the length

plus straight down on one end, that is measurement B

then I drew an rectangle with A and B on my piece of fabric

looks like this

testing if it really fits all around

next I drew 2 strips (of course you can do this with the same fabric, I just used another to show it better) they are A long and 10cm/4inch +twice the seam allowance wide

then I cut them

and ironed them in half

at the short ends I folded half of my seam allowance into the wrong side

and then folded it over again

and pinned the short ends that way

and sewed over it, securing my seams with a few stitches backwards and forwards at beginning and end

then folded the strips in half again and pinned them to sides A of my rectangle, they are shorter now then side A, I placed them in the middle, leaving the same amount of fabric standing over at each end

and sewed over it securing my seams again as described above

then ironed the seam allowance into my rectangel

and sewed over the seam allowances with zigzag-stitching. This way the seam allowance will stay inside the cover and not fray as much. If you have a serger you can of course overlock the seam allowances to prevent fraying at all.

now I folded my rectangle in half, right side outside

and sewed it parallel less then half of my seam allowance. For example if your seam allowance is 1.5cm you sew 0.5cm

then I turned the wrong side out

my seam looks like this so far, I ironed it flat

now I pinned my seam again

and sewed it again (securing my seams) this time with more then half of my seam allowance. in our example yo sewed first with 0.5cm and now with 1cm to have the 1.5 cm in the end again

and turning it around again

looks like a clean seam. 🙂 by the way this kind of seams are called french seams.

now I pulled it over my bolster

now I cut my cord into 2 parts that have the same length

I used tape to keep the cord together at one end

and pushed and pulled it through the tunnel of the strips

finished

then I made knots on each end and cut the tape-end of

and did the same at the other side

my ends look like this… if you want less fabric at the end you can do the strips 6cm/2.5inch +twice the seam allowance wide

my finished bolster cover.

Do you have any questions about this? Do not hesitate to ask!

like my print? you can order it here, also in other color combinations.